Buddhism after Mao

Negotiations, Continuities, and Reinventions

With well over a 100 million adherents, Buddhism emerged from near-annihilation duringthe Cultural Revolution to become the largest religion in China today. Despite this,Buddhism’s rise has received relatively little scholarly attention. The present volume, withcontributions by leading scholars in sociology, anthropology, political science, andreligious studies, explores the evolution of Chinese Buddhism in the post-Mao period witha depth not seen before in a single study. Chapters critically analyze the effects of statepolicies on the evolution of Buddhist institutions; the challenge of rebuilding temples underthe watchful eye of the state; efforts to rebuild monastic lineages and schools left brokenin the aftermath of Mao’s rule; and the development of new lay Buddhist spaces, both attemple sites and online.

Through its multidisciplinary perspectives, the book provides both an extensive overviewof the social and political conditions under which Buddhism has grown as well asdiscussions of the individual projects of both monastic and lay entrepreneurs whodynamically and creatively carve out spaces for Buddhist growth in contemporary Chinesesociety. As a wide-ranging study that illuminates many facets of China’s Buddhist revival,Buddhism after Mao will be required reading for scholars of Chinese Buddhism and ofBuddhism and modernity more broadly. Its detailed case studies examining theintersections among religion, state, and contemporary Chinese society will be welcomedby sociologists and anthropologists of China, political scientists focusing on the role ofreligion in state formation in Asian societies, and all those interested in the relationshipbetween religion and social change.